


Here

by ChokolatteJedi



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Book 7: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Dark, Fandom Stocking 2013, Gen, Introspection, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-03
Updated: 2014-01-03
Packaged: 2018-01-08 01:08:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1126581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChokolatteJedi/pseuds/ChokolatteJedi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Neville comes to a realization</p>
            </blockquote>





	Here

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hannelore](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannelore/gifts).



> Witten for hannelore for Fandom Stocking.
> 
> Also fills my "rites of passage/coming of age" square for trope bingo.

Neville looked around, considering the upcoming school year. Harry, Ron, and Dean were all gone, their beds still vacant, and their dorm room was echoingly empty with just he and Seamus in it. It was scary, a bit, to realize that the others – that Harry – had actually been driven from Hogwarts. And as a person who had spent most of his childhood ignored or bullied, Neville found himself sorely missing his friends.

Neville knew that a lot of Gryffindors from the lower years were missing, too; half-bloods or Muggleborns who had been banned from entering. The other Houses had been hit too – he even saw a few small gaps at the Slytherin table – but none hit as hard as Gryffindor.

And Neville knew what people thought about him; he was forgetful, and a disappointment, and it was a miracle that Harry and the others put up with him. He heard the whispers that he wasn't as smart or powerful as many of his missing year mates.

But the thing was: _he was here_.

He was at Hogwarts, and he had been trained for this in the DA. Snape and the Carrows may have taken over the school, but they had made a large mistake. They had left some Gryffindors standing.

McGonnagal had met his gaze at the Opening Feast, and Neville had known instantly what she was trying to tell him. She wanted to help them, but her hands were tied. Neville was willing to bet that the teachers were doing their best to keep their jobs, to keep more Death Eaters from replacing them at the school. If that meant sympathizing with the students without actively supporting them, then he would take what help he could get.

But Neville didn't have any such restrictions. The teachers might not be able to fight, but the students could. He and the other Gryffindors couldn't let this tyranny and persecution stand. The younger students should be protected and sheltered, but the upper years...

They were almost adults, and if they had felt that they could hide from the real world for another year behind the school walls, they were wrong. The adult world had come knocking. If Dumbledore's Army had meant anything, if the sacrifice of their missing classmates meant anything, then those left behind needed to fight too.

Neville looked around the room again, at the three empty beds. His mind filled in the image of other empty beds throughout the tower. It was their responsibility – his responsibility – to do something about this situation.

Decided, Neville slid off of his bed.

He would find Ginny. She might have Hermione's special controlling coin for the DA, and if not, she might have an idea on how to make another. They would gather the other remaining DA members. They would plan, and train, and do what they could to fight the Carrows and Snape. Like the teachers, they would need to be cautious, keep from getting caught. They couldn't do anything to help the younger students if they were locked in some dungeon below the castle. But there was much – oh so much – that they could do in the meantime.

They were going to fight back. And he was going to lead them. He might not be the best or smartest or strongest Gryffindor, but he was _here_. And he was going to fight.


End file.
